Halloween Card #2

Good morning! This is the re-make of the halloween card I showed you yesterday. This time I used a green background and put yellow behind the windows. I added some "mist" to the sky and put a spider in the upstairs window.

Which do you like best? Please leave a comment and let me know.

Happy Haunting....

Over The Moon Monday - Halloween Challenge

I hope you had a restful weekend. One of my favorite holidays is coming. Can you guess what it is? If you guessed Halloween, you are absolutely right. My husband and I usually dress up to hand out candy to the little trick or treaters, although I don't think that's going to happen this year. We have also been known to attend a party or two (and even win prizes), but that's not going to happen either. We have made some pretty elaborate costumes over the years, and always enjoy it.

Anyway, I wanted to share a card that I made using my cuttlebug. As usual, after I finished the card, there were a few things I would have done differently, but I still like the way it turned out.

To begin, I ran a sheet of white cardstock through the cuttlebug, using the haunted house template. Then I smeared purple ink over it. (This is one of the things I would do differently - I would just use purple cardstock next time.) Set this aside to dry.

Then I ran a piece of black cardstock through the haunted house embossing folder. I took an exacto knife and cut out all the windows and around the door, and I cut out the basic haunted house shape. I smeared white Brilliance ink on this to give it a grungy look.

I put green cardstock behind all the cut out windows, and put a little glitter on it to give it some shine. Then I adhered the black cardstock to the background.

I cut out the moon with an exacto knife from the purple background. I put a piece of yellow cardstock behind the cut out circle, and added some depth and shading with copic markers.

While I was at it, I colored the bats black, and used a white gel pen to make white dots for their eyes. When the white was dry, I colored over the white with red marker, making them have red eyes.

I took a gold gel pen and colored in the fence on the roof and also to the left of the house. Also, the balls on the top of the house.

I used a silver gel pen to color the stair rail on the right side of the house. I also colored in the shutters.

I stamped a ghost border from My Paper Moon, and cut out a couple of the ghosts. I used pop dots to make them stand out.

I used a white gel pen to write "Happy Halloween" on the bottom of the card. (I had a small stamp, but it didn't look quite right.).

All in all, I like the way this turned out. I think I might make one with a bright green sky background and see how that looks.

I hope you have enjoyed the card today. If you have a halloween card to share, please post a link in the comment section.

I have added some more cards to the gallery at My Paper Moon. I hope you have some time to take a look and let me know what you think. If you have any cards that use My Paper Moon stamps and would like to see them in the gallery, please email me or post a link in the comment section. I'd like to see them, too.

Have a great week!

Over The Moon Monday - Technique

Good afternoon and welcome to another Over The Moon Monday.

I am totally enjoying the cooler weather. I have the windows open and the air conditioner turned off. Can I tell you how much energy I have with the cooler weather? I feel like "spring cleaning".

I am having internet issues, so I will go ahead and get on with today's card. I like this card because you can cut 3 from a 12 x 12 piece of cardstock, and the finished card fits in a #10 envelope.

Anyway, to get started, you will need a piece of cardstock cut 4" x 12". I used a color that coordinated with the background paper I was going to use. On the 12" side, go in 3" and score so that you can fold the flap over. (This is the part that "To A Very Special Friend" is attached to.) Next I cut a piece of light olive cardstock 8-3/4" x 3-3/4" and adhered it to the base cardstock. I cut a piece of coral cardstock 8-1/2" x 3-1/2" and adhered to the olive cardstock.

For the outside flap, I cut a piece of patterned paper 2-1/2" x 3-1/2" and adhere to the flap. I stamped "To A Very Special Friend" (Hero Arts) onto light olive cardstock with lettuce dye ink. I trimmed to fit and adhered to the patterned paper.

Using the same patterned paper, I put a piece onto the coral cardstock.

I brushed white gesso on a piece of white cardstock, and left brush marks. While this was still wet, I applied pearl-ex in a gold and interference green to give it some shine. The texture is great, also.

Then I stamped the birds on a limb (Inkadinkadoo) with black permanent ink and trimmed the cardstock. I used a needle to punch holes in the ends of the cardstock, and ran a black inkpad around the edges, then adhered to the patterned paper.

When you are finished with the card, there is room to open the flap and write a note to the recipient.

I hope I have inspired you to create something this week. If you do, please post a link in the comment section. Happy Crafting!

Over The Moon Monday - Sponging Tips

Good morning and welcome to another Over the Moon Monday. Did you have a good week? The weekend was great...too short, but great. I am having computer issues, and it's driving me nuts. For the last year I have used both McAfee Virus Scan and Webroot Spysweeper together with no problems. I had to renew my McAfee and now I learn they are not compatible, so I have to decide which one to use. I like them both. If you have any experience with either one, please email me or leave me a comment on why you like it.

Today I want to give you some tips on sponging. It's a very simple technique, but can give you lots of interesting results. In the card sample below, I have used a couple of different sponging techniques.

I sponged a light blue onto the background cardstock (with the swirls). I sponged the sky and also the grass. I used a green marker to draw in the distinct blades of grass.

Types of sponges:

• cosmetic/facial sponges
• porous everyday sponges
• natural sponges
• bathtoy sponges

Methods of use:

• cut or tear sponges to get different textures.
• use sponges either dry or slightly dampened with water.
• use different amounts of pressure to get darker or lighter effects
• tapping, smudging, smearing and circular motions are all ways to get different effects and textures.

Stamping tips:

• sponge around paper masks which you have cut or torn to create cloud-filled vistas. Then sponge on a bit of light blue, pink or violet to accent clouds.
• sponge through paper doilies, lace, or netting for a delicate Victorial look. You can also make borders using sponging and masks.
• for beautiful grass, sponge on shadings to lay down base colors of greens, blues and yellows. Then use a grass stamp for distinct blades (or use a marker to make blades). Stamp it over and over without re-inking to add depth.
• sponge over nautical designs to give them the impression of being under water, in fog, etc.
• use the full width of the sponge for large areas or backgrounds or cut your sponge into your own design, such as a star or heart. For example, you can create a brick wall by using a small rectangular piece of dry sponge.
• use your sponges slightly damp instead of dry, for a softer, more blended look.

I hope you can use some of these tips. You can leave a link under the comment section on this blog.

Have a great week!

Over The Moon Monday - Technique

Good morning and welcome to another Over The Moon Monday. I hope you had a great weekend. Did you do anything fun? Just leave a comment and let us know!

Today we will be doing a technique with striped paper. This gives you a whole new way to use up that striped paper you didn't like, and I think you will like the results. I happened to need a birthday card, and wanted to try out the technique anyway, so I just combined the two. Let's get started, shall we?

Supplies you will need:

• striped patterned paper
• stamp of your choice
• coloring media of your choice
• embellishments to compliment your design
• adhesive (the xyron works great for this)
• cardstock base (to adhere the strips)
• cardstock for the card

To begin with, you will need to get out your striped paper. You will need more than the standard 4-1/4 x 5-1/2 because you are going to turn the paper at an angle to cut the first set of strips. You can cut these strips as wide as you want. I chose to cut mine about 3/4". After you cut 3 or 4 strips (depending on the width of the strips you cut), turn your paper 90 degrees and cut 3 or 4 more strips. As you can see on my first attempt at this technique, I didn't get my paper turned a whole 90 degrees, but I like the effect anyway.

Now you will adhere your first strip of paper to the cardstock base. Next pick a piece of the paper that was cut on a 90 degree angle and adhere it next to your first strip. Now pick up a strip like the first one and adhere it, so that you form an alternating pattern with the strips.

When you are finished, trim off any excess paper that is hanging over the edges, and adhere to your card. You could change the degree you turn the paper, creating different looks.

Now you are ready to finish your card using an image of your choice.

Share your creations with us by posting a link...and enjoy the rest of your week!